Book Name: Emerald: Good and Evil
Series: The Stones of Power
Book: Five
Series should be read in order for
maximum enjoyment.
Release
Date: November 18, 2015
Blurb:
Home.
Family.
Those
words often invoke a sense of love and comfort. But for the dark mage Morgorth,
they mean hate and pain. As the seventh son of a seventh son, many believe
Morgorth’s destiny is to become the Destroyer. His father embraced such a
future and trained Morgorth through torture and fear to become his weapon.
Morgorth managed to escape his father’s cruelty, but not the nightmares that
still haunt him. For many years he’s lived with the stain of his father’s
savagery, but now he must confront his nightmares head-on.
His
father has found a stone of power.
Morgorth must return to his land of birth, to the memories he’s
tried his entire life to suppress. Aishe is determined to help Morgorth defeat
his inner demons, but he knows he might not be enough to save Morgorth from
embracing his darkness. They know it will be a fight to the death and know
Morgorth won’t be the same if he survives. With Aishe by his side, Morgorth
hunts for his father, and finds answers to questions he never dared to ask—and
must live with the truths they reveal.
Pages or Words: 78,000 words
Categories: Fantasy, Fiction, Romance
Excerpt:
I glanced at Aishe to see he had his
bow, an arrow nocked, and quiver at his side. He was crouched, still looking
ill, but his eyes were hard and flat. I grinned in pride. Nothing could keep my
mate down. I let the wind die and the ship slowed, rocking violently, the water
lapping hard at its sides. The tentacles caught up and tried to wrap around the
ship once again. I didn’t risk fire, but I had another element that was aplenty
around me: water. Just as I gathered focus for the next spell, a tentacle tried
to slither onto the deck, heading toward me. Before I could react Aishe shot an
arrow, puncturing the slimy flesh of the tentacle. Then he ran and leapt over
it, and with his sword, sliced off the tip. The tentacle shot back into the
water, and the monster bellowed in pain. Aishe spun around, nocking another
arrow. He was now close to me, and I could see it was a struggle for him to
remain focused. He was sweating profusely and deathly pale. I would have
ordered him below deck if I thought he would listen.
More tentacles were now slithering
around the ship and the crew did what they could, cutting at the appendages and
shooting their own arrows. They gave me the time I needed. I ran across the
deck and realized the monster’s tentacles seemed to be following me. I wasn’t
surprised, since most creatures could sense magick and many predators were
attracted to it. If a predator ate a mage, they sometimes gained the power of
their food: you are what you eat. I could use that to my advantage.
I reached the other side of the ship and
flung my hand down with another word, using the magick in the water—every
element had magick, instilled there by the Mother—and used it to freeze the
water. But not just on the surface, I made the ice sink below where the beast
rested. I continued the spell, causing the tentacles to freeze. It wasn’t easy
to freeze saltwater but as I was using the magick within the element, and not
my own to control it, it was much easier. Once the tentacles stopped moving, I
instantly swung around and used the wind again to get the ship to move. We shot
across the water once more, and I happened to look back to see what the beast
was doing. We hadn’t gone very far before the ice broke. I realized the beast
was far bigger, and stronger, than I’d suspected. I watched, fascinated and
terrified, as the beast surged completely to the surface. Its bulbous head and
gaping mouth appeared, its tentacles writhing in rage. Those black, pitiless
eyes focused on us, and then the monster dove back into the water. It sped
toward us, creating a hump in the water.
I took a deep breath, reaching a
decision. It wasn’t going to stop, not until it had eaten me and destroyed the
ship. I stopped the wind.
“Everyone hold onto something!” I
bellowed. I glanced at Aishe as he clung to the rail, his eyes huge and locked
on me.
I stood in the middle of the ship again
and closed my eyes. My magick flashed hot inside me, and I used it to once
again grab hold of the water’s magick. I clenched my fists and let the foreign
magick fill me, feeling the pressure of it, the fluidness of the water, the
refreshing and cool sensation. Then I opened my eyes and quickly grabbed a
crystal from one of my pouches. It was small but it would serve for the task I
gave it. I clasped the crystal between both hands and unleashed the spell with
a focused word inside my mind. The spell latched onto the crystal and just as
the beast reached us, intent on smashing the ship to pieces, the water suddenly
shot upward, like a reverse waterfall.
A large column of water lifted the ship
out of harm’s way and the tentacles of the beast slashed at the column as it
roared in frustration. I made sure the ship reached a good height before
locking the spell into the crystal. Spells only lasted if there was enough
energy, or rather, magick, to sustain them. With crystals, I could hold the
spell longer by pumping a predetermined amount of magick into them, turning the
spell into an enchantment. I used such techniques for Geheimnis. I frequently
had to recharge the crystals but it meant I didn’t have to consciously think
about the spells anymore. They were very nearly freestanding. I used the same
concept here but of a shorter extent. What I had planned wouldn’t take very
long.
I ran to Aishe and pushed the crystal
into his hands. “Hold onto this. It will keep you all airborne.”
“What are you doing?” Aishe made to grab
me, but I had already leapt onto the rail, struggling to keep my balance.
“I’ll be right back,” I said.
“Morgorth—”
I took a deep breath before I
dove off the rail. I locked my hands over my head and made sure my magick was
bubbling right below the surface. The beast rose out of the water and opened
its mouth. This was going to hurt.
Buy the book:
Meet the author:
M.D. Grimm has wanted
to write stories since second grade and nothing has changed since then.
Thankfully, she has indulgent parents who let her dream, but also made sure she
understood she'd need a steady job to pay the bills. After graduating from the
University of Oregon and majoring in English, she embarked on her writing
career and couldn't be happier. Working by day, writing by night, she enjoys journeying
on romantic quests and daring adventures and creating characters that always
triumph against the villain, and find their soul mate in the process.
Where to find the author:
Publisher: Torquere Press
Cover
Artist: Kris Norris
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